Dolphin Slaughter in Japan

The picturesque Japanese fishing village of Taiji (in southwestern Honshu) has become notorious in recent years for its annual dolphin hunt, in which some 2,500 dolphins and other small cetaceans are killed in coastal waters between September and April.

Using a technique called drive fishing, hunters in a line of motorized boats create a “wall of sound” between the dolphins and the open ocean by banging on metal poles lowered into the water; the poles have bell-shaped devices at one end to amplify the sound. The dolphins, who rely on sonar to navigate, are immediately disoriented and terrified and swim frantically to shore to escape the noise. There they are corralled into a small cove and trapped overnight by nets; at sunrise the next morning they are herded into an adjacent “killing cove,” where they are stabbed to death by hunters using harpoons, fish hooks, and knives. The emerald waters of the cove literally turn red with the animals’ blood. Some injured or exhausted dolphins simply drown. Fishermen drag still-living animals onto boats with hooks and harpoons or tie them to boats by the tail, forcing their airholes under water. The animals are hauled by truck, or dragged over concrete roads by their tails, to a nearby warehouse for butchering; those who are still alive are stabbed again and left to die of their injuries or bleed to death. Some drown in their own blood.

The killing of the dolphins is often witnessed (and sometimes assisted) by representatives of Japanese dolphinariums, including trainers and veterinarians. The dolphinariums attend the hunts to buy showable dolphins for their own use or for sale to dolphinariums and amusement parks in other parts of Asia and Europe. The hunters make significant sums of money from these sales; a single dolphin can fetch more than $150,000.

Most of the animals, however, are killed, and their meat and internal organs wind up for sale in restaurants and food stores in Taiji and major cities such as Osaka and Tokyo. Until recently dolphin meat was included in the lunches served to local schoolchildren. The menu was changed after tests commissioned by two Taiji city councilmen showed levels of mercury far higher than the government advisory limit for fish, .4 parts per million. In other independent tests, levels of about 100 parts per million were common; one test of an internal organ of a dolphin sold at a Taiji supermarket showed a level of 2,000 parts per million. Dolphin meat also contains toxic levels of methyl mercury and PCBs.

The sale and consumption of what amounts to toxic waste continues partly because the local and national governments refuse to issue warnings about the danger, beyond stating that pregnant women should not eat dolphin meat than once every two months. The Japanese ministries of agriculture and health claim that dolphin meat eaten in moderate amounts is safe.

Protesters from all over the world regularly descend on Taiji to draw international attention to the cruelty of the hunt. In response to criticism by environmentalists and negative coverage in the foreign press, hunters and local government officials assert that dolphin hunting is a proud local tradition and that dolphin meat is part of Japanese “food culture.” They also go to elaborate lengths to hide the killing and butchering of the animals from foreign observers. (The vast majority of the Japanese public does not know about the hunt.) Roadblocks prevent entry onto the cliffs above the coves; the warehouse and the coves themselves are usually covered with tarpaulin; and the killing is done at sunrise so that the blood washes out to sea before tourists arrive in the afternoon to admire the scenery.

The carnage has been documented in photographs and video taken by members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and most recently (and spectacularly) in a clandestinely produced documentary by the SaveJapanDolphins.org coalition. The film, called The Cove, financed by Netscape cofounder Jim Clark, was made using high-definition cameras hidden underwater in the cove and in fake rocks on the cliffs. Ironically, the leader of the film crew, Ric O’Barry, trained dolphins for the 1960s movie and television series Flipper. Since 1970 he has been a leader in the campaign to end the exploitation of captive dolphins by dolphinariums and amusement parks.

The Cove won an audience choice award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and an Academy Award for best documentary in 2010.

The following video, produced by SaveJapanDolphins.org and narrated by Ric O’Barry, contains scenes of panicked dolphins racing to shore, hunters stabbing dolphins to death, and dolphins in violent and bloody death throes.

246 Comments

The purpose of Advocacy for Animals is to promote enlightened concern for animal welfare and the environment. We intend the comment areas of our site to provide a forum in which readers can discuss these issues and share information and experiences in an atmosphere of civility and mutual respect.

While we welcome comments from all points of view, including those that are critical of the animal rights and environmental movements, we encourage readers who wish to make criticisms to address themselves to specific points in the relevant article or post and to provide supporting argument where possible.

Repeated critical comments that appear to be intended to disrupt serious discussion or to silence other readers will not be published. Nor will, for obvious reasons, comments that contain any of the following:

I have always loved dolphins and always thought everyone liked them since they are so kind and fun but now that I hear Japan likes to eat them I get really sad and think its very wrong and cruel especially since dolphins don’t do harm to us and get along very well with us. This is very cruel and I know that people know better. Shame on Japan. I think the goverment should do something soon.

I agree because people that see slaughter they should call police and tell them to track them down and put a law that says no more hunting no more boats out in the oceans,lakes,swams,and rivers if people break the law send them to jail for life and people who slaughter animls should really think if we were dolphins and peple slaghterd us how would we think of it and what if one of your dearest family you loved so much loved dolphins you killed dolphins and animal they’ll be heart broken and not like you any more

After reading this article and watching the film The Cove I personally am disgusted by this issue. It is horrifying that dolphins are being mistreated and captured and even worse being slaughtered for food. Dolphins cause no harm to us humans. They are friendly, loving animals that do not deserve this level of mistreatment. It is outrageous that we think it is okay to not only kill but eat dolphin meat. As the article says dolphin meat is bad for us it has toxic levels of mercury and PCBs. The thought of eating dolphin meat makes me sick. This issue is pressing and something needs to be done to stop the killing of these innocent animals.

I know that japan loves to eat fish a lot. But eating dolphin with that barbar act?? the worst part is that government make “reason”, not an act. It so terrible. I love japan before. But this one make me think, maybe japan not the country i will respect from now on.

And while no positif act from government, this news will spread more and more.. Shame on you, japan!

we love the dolphins very much and we support the activist that are going anti, dolphin slaughter and the mercury poisoning that is being inflicted on the dolphins. We Love the dolphins. I love you!!!!

Dear Japan.
I just wanted to share something with you. It brought tears to my eyes to see what I saw on the news last night. A lil reminder, Dolphin’s breathe, bleed and feel like us too! But, they can’t talk! How could you guy’s sleep at night? Forget it!!! I don’t want to know.
Please, Please, Please…. For God’s name leave the Dolphins alone!!! Shame on you Japan!!!

wow…..i cant really sa much but…thats really sad. i hate people who do crap like that to animals. they honestly..need to be taut a lesson or be killed. i am sorry to say that, and probably whoever is reading this right now may think i am crazy, but im not. if you are looking at this in my way you will undestand. i love animals so much that i am always willing to help as much as i can.

I’m with u there, I’m still cry since last night when i saw the movie the Cove, Its like a funeral to me with this beautiful creatures has been torture and slaughter. Especially seeing the baby dolphin trying to escape with all the blood on them. Make me want Punish them ….

I am writing a research paper on this issue and would appreciate if Advocacy for Animals can help me further with this. The kind of information I need involves how this started? when did this practice come about? have other processes been used before this one? What does the EPA think about this and the effects on human health? What about other governmental agencies, what do they think? How is this tradition reflective of the Japanese community?

i think killing animals especially dolphins is a very cruel and brutal work. These animals are also living creature that lived the same way as us.
Its totally unthinkable on how those dolphin killer/murderer stomach the their work. Just imagine the number of dolphin that they killed just to satisfy their gluttony for money and blood… its so gross!!!

Why don’t you Americans worry about your OWN issues before you go and try to change other people’s why of life and culture. In India, cows are considered sacred. How would you feel if India made videos and wrote articles about how cruel the U.S. is to cows? Stop having such a double standard. We kill chickens, deer, cows, fish, and many other types of animals everyday for food. Does that make us right? You knows pigs are extremely smart right? But yet, we have bacon lovers all over the U.S. In other words, worry about your own damn country before you worry about others.

to iraq vet…..i am kind of confused. you said that we don’t worry about our country when we do. i researched it and there are tons of activists and stuff like that. you obivously don’t know what you’re talking about. we have so many people who care about what they are doing. while you are being ignorant and making false acusations. so until you decide to back up what you say. you sholdn’t talk.

oh and another thing. if it is a cultral act, how come no one knows about it. they asked random people in the dtreets if they knew and they didn’t. they all wanted it to be stopped. and at least our country knows wee are doing what we are. the mercury in the dolphins is poisonius anymways. so why would japan sell that to them for their own greedy needs. i think we should have hit them harder

Shut the hell up. Who says all of us are in favor of killing deer, cows, etc. It’s bad enought that they kill these lovely creatures, but it’s the way they do it. They let them SUFFER!!!! Shame on them and shame on you for being so cruel and insensitive.

Okay I understand your point but its still wrong no madder who is killing what. What we do is different from what they do. We kill to feed our people and to keep that population down. They kill for food and they dont keep to moderation, we do. Oh, and don’t make acusations that people are not american, its not nice. If your wandering, yes I am american, so SHUT UP!

to iraqvet isn’t it OUR country and even our world japanese and americans whoever you are we need to take care of the world and its creatures? I agree with you that we need to worry about our problems too, but i will fight for what i believe no matter what. even if it another country’s doing. I think ALL animal killing is somewhat wong some companies could do it more humainly but like i said to someone else i dont see their blood turning water completly red

The United states has regulations which maintain basic levels of humanity within our animal farms and slaughter houses. We also have very passionate activists. The Japanese and other southeast Asian cultures on the other hand seem to have nothing regulating what animals you kill or how brutally you kill them and on a more general level have a collective “who gives a f*ck” attitude towards animal suffering- or animal conservation. You seem to be just completely oblivious or in denial of these issues. Its time to wake up or face never ending pressure from people who know better.

It’s clear you have no prior experience with this website. (And are you not an American?) We have written many articles—and almost every one of them has been about animals in the United States. Farm animals, wild animals, pet animals. Yes, we have talked about how cows are treated in this country; chickens and horses, too. So, technically, we have worried about our own country before worrying about others.

Does geography impose some kind of limitation regarding who’s allowed to care about which animals? If we actually were denigrating “other people’s why [sic] of life and culture,” that would be one thing. But who is saying that this bloody stabbing-to-death of dolphins trapped in a cove is part of Japanese “culture”?

If you can prove that it is, then we’ll concede that you know more about Japanese culture than we do. Otherwise, it’s just another example of the international disregard for standards of decent treatment of animals.

I think that the killing of these dolphins are to crul than the killing that americans do to cows, pigs, deer, and even fish. We just shot them and they die. The dolpins are stabed to death and then if they don’t die they leave them to suffer. As a pre adult that lives on a farm and has to kill animals and grow crops to feed other americans and myself, we don’t just leave the animals there to suffer. We kill them and make sure they are dead before we do something else.
America doesn’t make the water turn to deep blood red (at least I’ve never seen it happen in my 17 years of being alive). So I think it is worn to stab the dolphins to death. I’ve swam with them and they are rally friendly animals!

I think that this is very wrong. We americans do kill cows, chickens, fish, and deer everyday, and farm people also slave in fields to feed everybodys stomach. We also don’t bruitally kill the animals and leave them out to bleed to death. We make sure the animals are dead before we go another step. As a pre adult I have never seen a animal killed the way they killed the dolphins. I have swam with dolphins and they are friendly animals and very protective. Would you really want to kill dophins when they do good or kill bears, and mountian lions and animals in American that are some of the most dangerous animals. SO LEAVE THE DOLPHINS ALONE!!!

It sounds like maybe you live on a small farm, since you say you do some slaughtering yourself, but the majority of meat in America is slaughtered in factory-like conditions where the rate of production, and not animal welfare, is the most important thing.

I would also like to add that each person commenting on here does not have a stam on their name saying “I am an American” So I would look further into that accusation before making it. This is a website therefore it can be accessed all over the world and in other countries other than America.

IraqVet,
I only scrolled down a bit and saw your reply about “Americans” or not..bla, bla, bla.
Just concede that the administrator was correcting you. He/she clearly stated that this site promotes humane treatment of animals in this country as well as the world. End of argument. Nothing else to say. Concede.

Yeah we don’t see us American Kill Whales around our cost you know why because we have a heart and feel there love. So I’m sorry other countries are so Heartless about the tragedy in Japan killing dolphins even the babies, ….

the baiji became extinct a couple of years ago too… its terribly sad that a ‘luxury’ commodity such as dolphin meat is worth so much. This is such a terrible thing that is happening, one because yes i agree that it is cruel. But on the other hand, i dont see any of the other posters on this forum lining up to stop bluegill fishing. All of the fish killed go through the same pain as any other animal killed without the use of a poison or anesthetic. i think that the Japanese cultural market should seriously reconsider harvesting a creature as hard to cultivate as the river dolphin, and should focus on more sustainable methods of fishing agriculture.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when i saw the videos and pictures, how horrific. I personally love and admire Japanese culture, and I adore dolphins and whales, so I always had a hard time with the fact that Japanese killed and ate whales and dolphins, but it’s true that it is part of their culture, and I learned to respect that. Nevertheless, it is horrifying what I saw on the videos and photos about the dolphin slaughtering in Japan, I couldn’t believe my eyes, how cruel, it’s embarrassing for human kind, there is no need to proceed in that way. I don’t think that allowing to suffer and bleed to death an animal of any kind can be justified by “the culture”. It is wrong, it degrades humans… humanity? what was that? ohhh right… the capacity for mercy, kindness, compassion, consideration. Hopefully one day we’ll get it.

I agree killing dolphin is wrong, but it is NOT very common in Japan at all. I am a Japanese woman, living in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, but I’ve NEVER seen restaurants that serve dolphin.
As I didn’t know the tiny town in Japan was doing such things, I think Americans do not know dolphins are eaten commonly in Florida. When I first visited Florida more than a decade ago, I was shock to see dolphin sandwiches, grilled, or encrusted etc.
I googled it recently, and I can still see these on menus at restaurants in Florida. People eat alligators, too in Florida.
It is a bad image of Japan, but there are evil people everywhere in the world, even in the United States.
As the movie, “Food Inc.” showed, there are not just individuals but also corporations and government involvement in abusing cattle to produce unsustainable meat.

I want to say that please do not hate Japan because of this. I admit that this is a shameful part of Japan, but it is only a tradition for a tiny town. A size of Japan is the same as California. If you think much more people are eating dolphins in Florida, which has a greater impact to the environment and dolphins? Several whales in the U.S. are killed every year because of radar from military submarines or something.

Surely, there are people who will judge the country as whole, for something that the minority has done. That is sad but true.

But know that there are also some people out there who understand that the action of some, does not necessarily get approval from the rest of the country’s citizens. And for what it’s worth, I am one of the latter.

you saw dolphin fish on the American menu- NOT DOLPHINS!
next time take a moment to check what you read. no way any restaurant in the u.s. could stay open today if they served dolphin- just the mercury content alone would force the authorities to punish them.

Many whales all over the world are killed by sonar…not just in the U.S. This is usually what causes groups of hundreds to beach themselves on shores every year. They get disoriented and cannot navigate themselves where they need to go. It is not just sonar from the U.S but from military bases all over the world. I have been to Florida many many times and have never seen dolphin on any of the menues of resturants Ive been to but who knows I guess there may be a few. The slaughtering in Taiji is not just that of dolphins though but also other small whales which are a very common item on menus in Japan. I personally do not hate Japan at all but I do believe living in a developed country there are much more humane ways of going about killing something than letting it bleed to death and more sustainable ways other than killing an entire pod of dolphins or small whales. This is the killing of many generations which entirely wipes those specific genes right out of the gene pool.

Watching those videos of dolphins being massacred deeply saddens me. I’m also sad with the way people in U.S. slaughter houses treat animals. People who work for “factory farms” that slaughter for everyday food Americans eat, is just plain cruel. Read this article about “factory farms” and tell me that its right: http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/slaughterhouses.html
I think if people in America are killing animals for food, they should make an effort to buy some form of pain killers or an injection to make sure that animals don’t feel a thing when they are being slaughtered.
And on Taiji, Japan killing those poor innocent dolphins for money or whatever reason is morally wrong. In my opinion, I think that people from different cultural governments, including the U.S. who oppose against this should write an international law stating you can’t kill dolphins in a horrific manner.
People all around the world need to come together and put an end to this!

There are a few facts about the dolphins that are killed that Japan has been heavily hiding. Dolphin meat is incredibly toxic and contains terrifying amounts of mercury which lead to brain damage and organ failure. Japan uses excuses that Whales and Dolphins are pests of the oceans and are the cause for the decline of fish. They also persist that it is part of their culture. Protest causes change. Change to abolish slavery and colonization which were much older cultural traditions. People are trying to stop female circumcision which is also part of many peoples culture. The culture used to be that women were not allowed to vote, that the poor could never have a significant place i society etc etc etc. The Samurai was a major part of Japanese culture but that is also gone. Dolphins and whales, in response to a previous post, are not livestock but wildlife and on the decline. The fact is that in 40 years, if we continue the way we are going, there will be a total depletion of fish stocks in the sea which which has a severe domino effect for all sea creatures. We need to start being respectful and responsible and saving the animals we have abused to inevitably save ourselves.

The ocean and its inhabitants represents a major food chain for earth’s survival.
To slaughter 500 whales in antartica yearly and dolphins (the mamals), Japan’s greedy money focused industry is creatng a global impact for the rest of the world.
why no UN/world concern? Sadly $$$talks and the world’s future doesn’t seem to matter…
a selfish country that only cares about now and $$$. Japan doesn’t even respect the whale protected areas in antartica. Shame.

A response to IraqVet: This is global issue. If you don’t believe in protesting anything for fear of upsetting someone’s “culture” then the world would be an even darker place. Other countries protested the slave trade which is now abolished in almost every country. Is cannibalism to be bought back because it was “culture”? This is an issue for the world, not for one country to decide.

“I think Americans do not know dolphins are eaten commonly in Florida. When I first visited Florida more than a decade ago, I was shock to see dolphin sandwiches, grilled, or encrusted etc.
I googled it recently, and I can still see these on menus at restaurants in Florida. People eat alligators, too in Florida.”

The “dolphin” they are referring to on those menus is not the mammal but a fish with the same name. Check this link for more info:

I am a uni student who has recently become involved with the issue of dolphin slaughter in Japan, specifically Taiji. And I think that before we can really tackle this issue we must own up to and think of solutions for the way we treat the other animals we eat.

I come from Australia, where beef, chicken and bacon is most widely eaten at tables, and not until recently has anyone even cared where the meat and how the meat was treated. My point is- stop the blaming on one specific thing but promote this is a global issue. Non-one cared about the world coming to an end until philosophers agreed on a date and time. But even then we only cared because it was us that might be in trouble and not the animals that also live on this planet. The only way to change this is to change the way we think economically- one day we will have to live the way we used to – killing and defending for ourselves and only then can we have control over how an animal is killed before we eat it.

As the saying goes- great minds think alike and only when we all develop great minds- education- can we think alike.

i understand how japan loves their fish, but really dolphins are smart and majestic.
they should not be put under those conditions and slaughtered in such a way. so many of them are just killed. just like that. they didnt understand why, they did not hurt anyone. did they?
no. i believe those poor dolphins should be left alone. and if they get killed, ny sharks or something, its still sad but its a way of life.

Thank you for the article and the advocacy for the decent treatment of the creatures of God’s kingdom, Britanicca.

Mimi, Dolphins are also called Porpoises. The Dolphin on the menus in Florida are actually a salt water fish not a Porpoise. It is illegal to kill Porpoises anywhere in the waters of the United States. This stretch of water is known in the United States as the Sea of Cortez. The United States became a dolphin-safe zone in 1994, when it became illegal to sell, buy, or ship tuna products obtained using methods that kill dolphins

The dishonesty of the Japanese government is frightening. They clearly do not have truth at the top of their list of important traits. They are willing accomplices to the poisoning of their own children with mercury. School lunch is compulsory and the dolphin killers are giving free contaminated meat to the school lunch program as propaganda.

here is what i have to say. i am almost a teen and i have spent weeks looking at this situation. i think it is cruel. if you do not believe this is cruel watch the movie The Cove . it is a very sad and disturbing movie. i advise that no kids watch this. (my friend told me about it) this is not culture it is animal cruelty. tricking them stabbing them and leaving them to die in their own blood. have you seen the water?? this is very sad. THE DOLPHINS NEED YOU TO PROTEST! they need our help. they cant do it alone. the dolphins are relying on us. to help them. dont abandon them. HELP THEM! please look into this more. ANIMAL CRUELTY!

ok everybody its me sweet country girl (again) and i agree with everyody who says the dolphin on the menu is a fish because when i went to florida my dad said “dont get upset if you see dolphin on the menu. it is a type of fish” then he started describing it and telling me what it looked like. so yes. haha all people that said it was real dolphin on the menu. but i do think it is dumb how they have 1 name for 2 diffferent types of umm i dont know how to say it. maybe marine life or animals that live in the sea.? you will probably hear more from me so bye for now! peace for dolphins!

quel has a good point. why dont we just stop eating meat? but then there would be an over population and there would be dead animals laying around. and there wouldnt be many berries and grass and anything animals eat. i dont get why japanese people eat so much fish. why dont they just share it with the whales and dolphins. then it would be fair! and they dont need to kill so many dolphins for food. they dont even need to eat dolphins with all that fish they eat! i mean where i come from we eat a variety of foods. wich is fair to all animals. we are not obsessed with fish or meat. we even it out. peace out!

You people have to know that this hunting is only done by a few fisherman in Taiji. Their government tells them that it is pest control. Most of Japan does not even know about this brutal killing of dolphins. Donâ€™t blame the people for what their government does. Other foreign dolphinariums come too.

I cant believe japan would kill the amazing creatures that would not ever hurt a human only save them from things such as a tiger shark coming to attack you but a dolpine swim to save you. save them NOW!!!

Since you’re 12 you might not know, but the tiger shark is the LAST shark a dolphin will attack. Be it to save someone or not.

Next thing: Your comment “amazing creatures that would not ever hurt a human ” is wrong as a fact. Try googling dolphin attacks. You’ll be surprised on the number of times dolphins have attacked humans.

just so you know these are some things alot of people are saying…
*why dont we stop eating meat
*dolphins are the smartest fish
*we do the same to farm animals
*worry about our own country

well here is what i have to say.
*we cant stop eating meat because then there would be an over population
*all fish are smart but yes dolphins can be trained are maybe a little smarter
*we DO NOT do the same to farm animals we do less violently and quickly so the animals do not feel as much pain. we also dont stab them to death in front of their family and friends
*we do worry about our own country because if you read some other articles they are talking about farm animals in the U.S.

And anyway why don’t you start worrying about your country japanese people! i don’t hear anybody from japan trying to save the dolphins! if japanese people started helping maybe this could stop. please correct me if i am wrong. go dolphins!!!

1) Yes, we can stop eating meat. We jsut need to stop breading them. Then, we would also not have an over-population. Besides, do you know how much meat is wasted because of over-breeding?
2) So what if they’re smart? Pigs are smart too. In fact, they are smarter than dogs (remember more and learn faster). Still, they are eaten. So, something in your logic is wrong.
3) Indeed we don’t do the same. We’re worse. We force them to have as many kids as they can and kill them off when they can’t make it anymore. Then, we seperate them from their mothers FAR too early, put them in extremely small spaces, in which they can hardly move, let alone lay down. Then, we stuff them with food to make them grow as big as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. Geese, for example, sometimes even have the food stuffed down their throat (e.g. just before christmas). Then, they are taken to the slaughterhouse, which smells so much like blood, thatthey are bound to sense what is awaiting them. Rabbits, for instance, are also beaten to death and other bad stuff is done to them, so that they don’t stiffen up before dying, which would make the meat quality turn bad.
4) The whole world is doing this. Not just the US.

By the way, dolphins are not fish. They are mammals.
And Japan is not going to stop unless the rest of the world stops slaughtering other animals (e.g. deer, crocodiles, kangoroos, etc.).

i posted 9 comments on here! this one is my 10th
im good at debating because we had a fifth grade debate last year british vs colonists and everybody said i did realy well because whenever someone would say something against what i said i would spring out of my chair or you would see my hand spring up. i think my team won! it was fun. back to the dolphins

o and just so you know there are whales involved in this too! not just dolphins. they both need our help. i wouldn’t be afraid to go to japan and talk to those japanese people right to their faces. i would die for these animals. i would die for any animals. i am planning to go to japan and try to stop this. they cant arrest me im 12. they could kill me though. im realy brave

I watched the movie “The Cove” shocked and horrified maybe the best way to get the Japanese to stop is to BOYCOTT all Japanese Products. Stopping the killing is something we need to do. The explaination to the press that Dolphins and Whales are the reason fish populations are depleted is a crock, over harvesting worldwide is the cause behind declining populations. I have asked all the divers in my dive group to sign a petition and as well boycott Japanese Products, boycott the other countries that support the removing of the Ban on Killing Whales. If the world can unite and boycott products and industry from Japan and those who support this activity. Maybe we will get lucky and those who are killing the dolphins will eat some of what they have killed as its known the high concentrations of mercury are present and they will come down with the illness they are exporting,Minamata. Sad to have to say that but really tired of excuses that condone killing of marine mammals which Japan is one of the leaders worldwide in whaling and dolphin kills. BOYCOTT JAPAN.

If you’re going to start your comment “ATTENTION MORONS” and go on to claim that you “can’t be bothered to organize my post” while insulting everyone around, don’t expect us to approve your comment. You made some good points, but most of them have been made already by others. If you still want to comment, please do so without calling everyone else “stupid.”

why does it have to be that the … japenese people don’t stand up for the dolphins. like the people that are in japan but don’t slaughter them. and then abviously we would help but why would they not help which would make us angry and then we would help for so many reasons. do you know what i mean? sorry i dont know what that means. i guess im asking why won’t they help since they are closer? abviously we would help because we know its wrong.

i think that they have no idea how important these dolphins are to the world and the society. Please stop killing dolphins we need them for good and even if their meat is good its a priceless meat to the Japanese and their culture. STOP KILLING DOLPHINS

the cove is a bad movie and i don’t care if it wins anything killing animals for the sake of killing is murdering. and it is very illegal and even and 13 years old I know that that is a mean thing to do and it should stop. but why doesn’t the Japanese start to arrest the people that are doing it… think about it for a minute, would you like to be killed for no reason? think is it kind to those animals

This Really needs to stop!! They r killing 23,000 Dolphins a year! I think that if we get the word out about this then we can stop it! Pluss The Dolpin Meat is in no good use to us! It has high levels of Mercury in it! Tons and Thousands of children are disabled due to false maketing of dolphin Meat! The Mercury causes lose of hearing, sight, and motability! Watche the move “The Cove”! The Government is letting this happen! They know whats going on just the people in the places Dolpin killing is taking place DONT! This is not Americans doing this!

Dolpins are very intelligent and if you aren’t more active in stopping this crime you should watch the video. Sometimes you have to stand up and say this is wrong and we want you to stop. We have to make a stand together if we want this stopped. If we do nothing and say nothing they get away with it.

I’ve read a lot of comments suggesting that people Boycott Japanese products, and why aren’t the Japanese doing anything? If you’ve educated yourself via, http://www.savejapandolphins.com, you would know that most Japanese people are completely unaware of the killing. The drive hunting has been kept a secret, and is the work of approximately 26 fishermen. If you want to boycott something, you need to reconsider one, ever attending a show at a dolphinarium or Aquarium, and two, swimming with any dolphins or whales in captivity. Yes dolphins are smart, but that doesn’t give us the right to exploit them for entertainment. Attending shows, supports the killing. Part of the activity at the ‘The Cove’ in Taiji, is the sale of dolphins around the world to aquariums.

I may be a fan of Animes but I love animals. Sure, Japanese eats fish but let’s face it, Dolphin’s aren’t supposed to be categorized as food. Species that are of great importance to our environment must be protected. Have you noticed that we only eat animals that aren’t endangered? Farm animals like cows, chickens and the like are bred in order to for them to multiply but Dolphins, come on. Stabbing them to death and filling the ocean with blood is quite inhumane and cruel. I watched a video about this and I noticed how extremely friendly the Dolphins are to humans by going near the hunters but what did this humans do in return? The kill them. There are a lot of fish in the sea for you to eat guys. Don’t get greedy. Please.

they should not be arrested they should be punished severely. the dolphins don’t do anything to them they are friendly. They are very intelligent. y should we kill one of the most intelligent sea animals. i think that all countries should go against japan and all the rest of the countries that are killing them for being so ignorant for not knowing how great dolphins are to our world.

i could care less if it is there culture or not it is wrong for killing dolphins. and i don’t care if they make a living on killing dolphins. they can find a new job cause there is a lot of people in japan that have jobs so why cant they find new job there. cause they are taking the united states jobs anyway so there should be plenty there.

I want to do more than make a statement against the horror of all the issues brought up in the documentary “The Cove”. Humans must realize that due to their intelect and ability to commit an atrocity does not and should not empower them to do so. This is pure evil.

We need to ban together and save the dolphins in taiji. The past we can do nothing about but we can change the future. So we must ban together for the dolphins and not let this atrocity and heinious crime return. Shame on u taiji.

dont just blame the small fisherman. follow the money. the corruption. speak the truth and spread the truth. it’s the government oppression of the truth . by the way it just doesn’t happen in Japan it happens in the good ol USA. the FDA lies to us about the safety of alot of our foods. dont ever wholly trust any government with out vigilance

This is an atrocity practiced by ignoramuses, defended by profiteers to the shame of the entire human race. It is clear enough that a simple appeal to the decency of the Japanese people and their leaders is insufficient. But money still talks – a boycott of Japanese exports, their cars and consumer products, might get some traction. My family and I have instituted ours as of today, and will spread the word to all who will listen.

i think that is a disgrace the way japan kill dolphins they are very intelligent animals and dont desperve to be killed like that i think japan want to be ashamed of themselves its a brutal murder. it brings tears to my eyes to see them in such pain swimming about with blood running out of them. the japanese are unhuman and sick individuals there day will come. i hope these horrible people in their life they experience half the pain they put the dolphins threw. SHAME ON THEM…. MAY THE JAPANESE ROTT IN HELL…

JAPANESE ARE DOIN MORE HARM THAN GOOD THE DOLPHINS MEAT IS FULL OF MERCURY SLAP IT UP USE SILLY PEOPLE YAS ARE JUST POISONING YOUR OWN PEOPLE HAHA YOU SILLY PEOPLE, YAS ARE ALSO SACRAFICING SENDING THE DOLPHINS INTO EXTINCTION. … THEY SAY THEY ARE VERMON AND EATING TOO MANY FISH THATS WHY THEY KILL THEM. THATS JUST LIKE SAYING FAT PEOPLE EAT TOO MANY BURGERS THEY SHOULD BE KILLED WHAT RUBBISH…

I beleive that the way animals are slaughtered all over the world in mass slaughter house are not done in a way appropriate. A lot of animals suffer because the enviroment is not controlled, just as in the coves of Japan. Whatever meat someone is eating, whether it is dolphin or cows, people should know what they are eating and if it has poison in it. Dolphin meat is no good so therefore it shouldn’t be used for meat, whatever the method is to slaughter them, and no matter what it shouldn’t be used for human consumption. These slaughters are common in Japan, yet many of the Japanese don’t even know they are eating it, and many wouldn’t eat it if they knew the amount of mercury they were ingesting. It isn’t a culture of Japan, it is greed. I can’t stand to hear that because of an invalid excuse these things still go on. America of all places, considering all the inhumanities and injustices this country has been through, should be able to do something about the slaughters in America. As for Japan, all we can do is bring more awareness and hopefully they won’t be able to do this anymore. Yes I am partial to dolphins, and I am disgusted that this kind of meat has been served in schools. If we are going to eventually extinct this great species, then something has to change.

Hi, I have a few questions:
At first thought, I found myself being morally outraged by the slaughter of whales and dolphins for public consumption in Japan. However, I then questioned how it is any different than our own consumption of pigs. Pigs are also extremely intelligent creatures (smarter than the average dog), but we have no problem eating them (including myself- I see nothing wrong with it; it is completely normal for humans to eat animals as it is commonplace in the wild among other species). What is the difference here? I’m genuinely curious. Is it the fact that these are wild animals? Personally, I think the main concern is the balance of the ocean ecosystems. Is this correct?

To anyone and everyone who claims that dolphins would never harm a human… Dolphins rape and murder. Look it up.

Is it wrong to slaughter animals cruelly? Of course. No matter how you dress it up, killing animals for food is cruel. Raising creatures in restricted captivity (referring to factory farming techniques) for the sole purpose of consumption is an advent of the industrial age, and horrific, no matter how you dress it up.

If you are trying to further a goal in conservation, humane treatment, or really anything, it would serve you to anchor your view in facts, and not emotional statements about why you “know” something is wrong.

Also, the outrage over the slaughter of dolphins is not an ecological issue at its core. It is one borne from the issue that these intelligent, “majestic,” respected creatures are being killed. It is, from what I’ve read and seen, mostly an issue of outrage that these creatures are being killed in such a cruel manner.

ALSO, @Brett Williams, cannibalism wasn’t borne out of culture. Cannibalism is a practice borne out of necessity. When a population of humans has exhausted the resources of their island: specifically trees and large game animals, then there is a pressure on the society to engage in cannibalism. Read some anthropology, or get your hands on an ethnography.

Are you kidding me with the worry about your own country crap. This is REPULSIVE and it does not matter what country you come from you should put your foot down to stop this. It should make you sick to be part of a world that would allow this to take place. This is pointless, the meat is unnecessary and toxic. WTF is wrong with you if this does not make you sick and you do not feel this is wrong you are just as bad as the fisherman doing this cruel and pointless act on such a beautiful and necessary creature for our Ocean’s Ecosystem.

Debunker, I majored in anthropology, and I have no idea what you’ve read, but I think you’re way off base. It does not jibe with my knowledge at all. Do you have some citations? What ethnography will give us this information? Thanks.

I was naive to this until I watched The Cove on Animal Planet and I found it extremely disturbing. Dolphins are not meant to spend their life in captivity but to be in captivity for an illness, but should be released after. The Japanese feel this is their “local tradition” but if that were the case, why do they feel the need to cover up the slaughtering? Do they feel mighty and powerful by zoning in on the porpoises strength/weakness by bombarding with the noise so that they head to the shores? It is cruel and inhumane by stabbing them to their death as well as dragging them so that their blow holes are below water. With high levels of mercury content, there is a HUGE concern for health issues and birth defects for pregnant women.

70-80% of our oxygen COMES from marine life. Whales and dolphins are part of that ecosystem. Certain whale species are close to extinction and eventually porpoises will be following that fate if we do not advocate and make people aware of the situation. The more we can educate everyone on this issue, the more aware people will be and the more reason for action.

I believe any film that gets us to think about how selfish we are as human beings, is the first step to change. However, there is a fine line between responsible journalism, and propaganda. If a film forces us to examine ourselves, our cultures, our behavior which we never questioned before, then I feel it is a powerful and responsible film. “The cove” however, was not. That film relied on the audience member to feel self-righteous, a kind of us vs them mentality. “how could THEY?” It never us asked us to examine the root of the problem.

The question “how could they?”, can be answered by examining our own industry in our own back yard. We as a society have a tendency to forgive the worst atrocities if we are in fact a part of it. I see shows on TV that celebrate trapping and shooting crocodiles in the head, not that it’s the same, but obviously we have no emotional connection to that. Dolphins are a higher standard to fish and other animals, and I fail to understand that. I don’t know what the reaction would be if the Japanese, in order to increase profits, started to farm dolphins as we do fish, and to slaughter them as we do cows and buffalo, even if we invent more humane ways to kill them. I know because of industry, buffalo in the U.S was killed to almost extinction, but then they became endangered and thrived agian, so now we farm them and eat buffalo burgers. Where’s the documentary and why doesn’t that affect people like the cove.

I feel awareness needs to be promoted, but not by pitting one people against another. I grew up in the U.S. where grown adults felt that it was a fact that the Chinese Government roamed the countryside looking for daughters to kill. That was furthest from the truth. Watch any documentary about the exploding population in India and you’ll see the cruelty and inhumanity of overpopulation. The cove is a film that does not require the audience to question thier own role in capitalism, industry, and the consequences when human selfishness takes over. In order to be moved by the film, you have to feel self righteous over others, agian the “how could THEY?” mentality. You will have a generation of people who will demonize an entire country without once questioning thier own role. That is dangerous, that is propaganda.

I feel very much for those who are involved with saving dolphins, there drive and beliefs are admirable. The producers of the cove, however, won an acadamy award for it and made millions. That is fine if all the film did was promote a cause and reveal atrocities. But instead they made it into a religon where all you can see is one side, and seeing that one side requires you to attack an entire country without attacking yourself. Change, this way, is not possible. It did, however, make some people very rich.

(edited by moderator to add paragraph breaks. This commenter made good points that many people would be inclined to skip over because of the difficulty in reading such a long, uninterrupted block of text.)

It is clear that the Japanese are not interested in listening to the rest of the world’s pleas for the lives of whales and dolphins and their cruel and inhumane methods. All of the conferences, organizations and meetings have only added more CO2 to the atmosphere. Let me ask you this. How many of you have a Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Lexus or Infinity in your driveway? How about Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic appliances? Are you getting where I’m going with this? The most powerful weapon in the world is MONEY. We got it, they want it. He who has the gold makes the rules. A boycot of all Japanese products should get the attention of their government and the people themselves, who claim to be ignorant of the goings on regarding the slaughter of whales and dolphins, not to mention the health treat that is being imposed on the innocent, their own children. Dodging water cannons and chasing whaling ships on the high seas and sneaking into coves where dolphins are being slaughtered, while very noble and corageous, IS NOT GOING TO GET IT DONE and neither has talking about it. MONEY is the answer, keep them from getting it. As an added benefit, it would also help our own people and economy.

let the people who slaughter the dolphins eat the dolphin and kill themselves from an overdose of mercury….problem solved. and how about we bang poles in their ears and drive them into a small space then stab them with sticks with knives on the ends. those people are sick.

To clarify for the woman from Japan… the dolphin you see on Floridian menus is the FISH dolphin. Not the animals you see here. And the alligators are not herded and brutally slaughtered in a blood bath.
I don’t know about other countries, but in the USA there is a CONSTANT roll against animal cruelty. Investigation after investigation. And when something amiss is discovered, it’s dealt with. Let’s hope the Japanese FIX this problem. It’s not cultural… it’s asinine.

America, along with some other developed nations, ALSO have a history of whale hunting. Here’s a direct quote from this site:

“In the United States, whaling is carried out by nine different indigenous Alaskan communities. The whaling program is managed by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission which reports to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”

it’s brutal to kill these dolphins. I watched the movie “The Cove” today and all these japenise people buying this meat at the market don’t even know what they are eating and on that movie it said that these dolphin killers send the meat to the school lunch programs and there is murcury in all this dolphin meat that all these people don’t even know they are eating they. Kill about 23,000 dolphins a year I wish that they could stop it but at least its exposed to the world now so mabye it will change.dolphins are the second smartest living thing in this world. in this show a dolphin saves a person surfing from a shark

i hat anyone who says this is ok becouse if u wanna kill this innocent LIVING animal then i should be allowed to kill u what is the saying “an eye for an eye” well then what you do to them is what we should be allowed to do to you

if anyone eats meat on here they should shut there mouth. For all I know the bacon I eat has gone through the same form of torture as these dolphins. People argue that we american kill are animals in a more dignified matter; perhaps we do. The bottom line is that is you are going to use the method of killing as the pases of you poor analogy; do yourself a favor and send Japan some guns so they can “humanly” kill these dolphins.

i myself onced liked japan ..
i had lots of friends there ..
but i didnt knew that this was the opposite side of them T^T
how can they kill such wonderful animals ..
then after years ..
THEY DARE QUESTION WHY DOLPHINS ARE EXTINCT ?
PURELY STUPIDITY if you ask me Y^Y you people should stop killing such
harmless animals such as them 🙁 breaks my heart 🙁

I have seen on NatGeo much coverage of the dolphin slaughter practice and clips from the movie, “The Cove”, but can’t bring myself to watch the movie in it’s entirety because it would tear me up the same way watching any type of animal slaughter would. I am an admitted meat eater and there are days when I am just disgusted with myself because I’m living in conflict. I can’t stomach watching the horrific scenes yet I consume the meat from the same slayings that I can’t bear to watch. Every year I tell myself this will be my last year eating meat and I am getting closer to this reality. I have begun to eliminate meat items from my diet but not all of them. This personal failure/struggle aside, with the recent eathquake/tsunami incident in Japan I have hope that it will, at least temporarily, distract from or break from the senseless slaughter of these beautiful animals who are quite intelligent like elephants, whales and yes, pigs. I’m not interested in “humanely” killing any animal – I don’t think that is the solution – abstaining from their consumption is the only sure way to end their suffering. On another note, with regard to the barbaric poaching for profit that is rampant in Africa and elsewhere, what a sad state of affairs that is … blood is on the hands of many a citizen from many a country including America, Germany, China, India, Switzerland and many more. Killing to the point of extinction beautiful animals for profit, tigers, rhinos, elephants, chopping off their horns, tusks and genitalia with the belief that these materials are “mystical ancient cure-alls” or sometimes killing them just for sport. Imagine murdering the very last one of these creatures for sport. My suggestion is to round up all these mega-wealthy sick narcissists that purchase these animals or their parts all be rounded up and dropped onto an island where they are afterward hunted and mutilated to death. But remember, it’s not just super wealthy people that contribute to killing and torturing beautiful animals, it’s moderately wealthy middle-class people who put “fur coat” on their holiday wish list, the fashion industry that has no shame flaunting fur on the runway (it used to be in super bad taste but wearing fur has made a major resurgence in fashion over the past 3 years) and homeowners who lovingly adorn their floors with the pelt of some poor unfortunate animal. Sickening, isn’t it?

This is disgusting. What’s the difference with the way we treat our chickens cows turkeys pigs etc? FARMERS raise these animals on farms. From what I understand, when they are slaughtered and killed these animals never fear for their lives the whole time they are walking into their death. I mean it does make perfect sense if Japan did in fact grow and raise and own every single dolphin in the Pacific Ocean instead of banging those poles in the water or what not to scare them into where they are slaughtered. Personally I don’t believe dolphin hunting would be qualified as “fishing” I happen to love meat, but I buy my meat from farms where the animals are raised by their owners and are raised healthily, eating what they should etc. Oh and killed in a humane matter?

there is a documentary on this and i watched the whole thing, it was horrible you see them killing and slaughtering the dolphins. you see all the horrible things they do.
with japanese eating fish and stuff, the people who documented it went to different suburbs of japan and asked if they know about the dolphins being slaughtered for meat cause it was “traditional” turns out they dont and think its disguisting. the movie is horrible, but its good to watch to learn. its called the cove.

I hesitate to say this but here goes.
The quake and the tsunami followed by the radiation leaks is but a small punishment for the whale-killing – ostensibly for ‘research’ – and the dolphin massacres.

We have an astounding variety of animals on this world and yet – due to the pressure of out ever increasing numbers – we are hell-bent on their extermination.

First it was the buffalo, then the quagga, now it is the rhino and all the great cats that are going the way of the dodo and it is all in the name of culture and tradition and the ‘need’ for food or medicine when no such need exists.

We stand condemned before the universe in trying to eradicate what took billions of years to develop and it is all done with arrogance coupled with ignorance.

So – in a small measure I cheered when I saw the destruction wrought on the whaling industry as the relentless wave tried to clean that obscenity from the face of the earth.

And yes, we are ALL guilty, not just the Japanese people – for callous disregard of those whose keepers we should be, our cousins and fellow travellers – the animals

I have to say, this is one of the more cold-blooded sentiments I have read in the comments. I approved it from the moderation queue because it is expressed in something less than the usual violent manner; believe me that we’ve gotten our share of “this is Japan’s payback for ____” {fill in the blank}. Michael Kretschmer has at least taken the time to think through his feeling that “they deserved it” and offer some kind of philosophical, if not empirical, support for that position.

But I’m horrified to think that someone could look at what happened to Japan and admit to “cheering” about it, whether or not you’re attempting to mitigate it by saying you only cheered the destruction wrought on the whaling industry. Because in reality you’re talking about many more than that, and no one deserves to be killed or have their lives destroyed by an earthquake, tsunami, and/or radiation poisoning. I don’t know if this comes from some kind of “we have injured Gaia and she is fighting back” point of view or what, but these are real peoples’ lives here.

I will leave aside the question of whether it even makes sense to explain an earthquake as punishment for human actions. I think maybe Pat Robertson has had something to say on the subject in the past, though.

perhaps my ‘philosophy’ is callous and ‘cold-blooded’ but then you need to understand where I’m coming from – so briefly here is how I feel about it:

————————————————————————
The Last Days of Earth

I am alone now – all the others have left and by my side is the last of the great cats, a Bengal tiger that shadows my steps and guards me.

The sun has expanded past the orbit of Mercury and hangs crimson and threatening on the unmoving horizon as the Earth’s rotation has stopped and the Moon left her orbit.
The last days are upon us and we wander the world and visit our cousins.

And it is just, that I am here today to share an ending with those who are left behind, and eventually I sit and they all come – our brothers in DNA – the survivors of billions of years – the last of their kind.

There is the ponderous solemnity of the Elephant
the sadness of the Monkeys
the snuffling of the Boar
the prancing of Zebras

There is the slither of Snakes
the flutter of Birds
a Dolphin has come upstream and rests its head on the bank

and also the Vultures settle for the last time
as do the Pelicans in an elegant glide

and from the deep come beasts never seen before
and the Tiger bunches her muscles
but the beasts do no threaten

And the plain teems and they settle all around us and a peace descends as we watch the pulsating sun – our mother for eons and now our nemesis.

And there is no regret
we had our time
we did great things
and we sinned badly

Responding to Hillary who said: “FARMERS raise these animals on farms. From what I understand, when they are slaughtered and killed these animals never fear for their lives the whole time they are walking into their death.”

What you are describing is a fantasy. There is plenty to fear in the lives of our cows, chickens, and pigs.

I come from a family of pig farmers. My cousin still runs a large pork farm. Livestock on modern farms suffer terribly their whole lives long. Even the best facilities (and let’s not talk about the bad ones) – even the best keep their animals so severely confined that they can’t walk or turn around or stretch or even lie down confortably. And what about the physical mutilations such as chopping off tails and sensitive beaks (without pain killers) or the callous destruction of unwanted males? Male hatchlings piled into cans to suffocate or thrown into mechanical grinders while they are fully conscious.

So-called “humane slaughter laws” are inadequate and anyway are not effectively enforced. Industry standards for stunning prior to slaughter -which is supposed to eliminate pain -allow a certain percentage of animals to be inadequately stunned. The percentage varies by species, but essentially this means that millions of animals every year end up being boiled or dismembered or skinned while they are still conscious.

My point is that at least the dolphins led normal lives, with freedom of movement, social binds, maternal care, and all the other activities that presumably dolphins enjoy. Their ends were bloody but at least their lives were not the hell on earth of farmed animals today.

It’s understandable that the people of Taiji and their supporters look on opponents of their dolphin kill as humongous hypocrites.

By reason of our numbers and our developed intelligence and planning capabilities we have taken dominion of this world of ours.

This carries an awesome responsibility and does not mean that we can hunt and kill other species into extinction to please our palates.

This dominion means that we are to be the protectors of life on this planet and that -rather than being the lords of creation – we are the custodians of an astonishing variety of beings who have a longer history than us and deserve their place in nature without being threatened by our belief in the magical portions of their bodies as in rhino-horn or bear-bile or tiger-paws or indeed in our desire for meat which was necessary 40 000 years ago but has lost its survival meaning in the last century.

The desire to eat meat is inborn and will probably never leave us but we have become gluttons and feed needlessly on the flesh of hapless animals and survival is the least of our concerns – rather we feast like Romans on the flesh of bred species and if this was not enough we make their death awful and demeaning.

Our time on this planet is limited, our survival is in doubt.

So while we are on our brief journey from savage to enlightened being it behoves us to realise that the time has come to make a POSITIVE impact for once and curb our own numbers, manage the variety of life,
give the the space and respect they deserve and leave a lasting legacy of a once violent and irascible species who finally saw the correct way to treat other living beings or out epitaph will read :

Here lies a species that could have ascended to greatness – instead they destroyed the climate and the survivors of millions of years and finally themselves in an orgy of greed and superstitious ignorance.

Listen to the song of the whale
listen to the silence of trees
look at the dance of clouds
the frolicking of dolphins and seals
stand in awe at the capabilities of survival

I think this is the most terrible thing anybody could ever do that involved an animal!What in the world did these dolphins do to deserve this! Why not a creature that Kills, like a freaking shark! I am also doing a research paper on this! Because the more dolphins you kill the more fish in the sea!! Its a food Chain people!!!!!!!
I believe that these animals should not be killed, even on television! THE COVE!!! Really.. your stupid if your watching this for entertainment this isnt funny this is just plain stupid!!!

I don’t get why you would want sharks to be killed either (kept aside the fact that people DO kill them). Sharks don’t attack humans for fun or with bad intentions. In fact, sharks don’t even like the taste of human flesh. They will most often either mistake it for prey, or be curious (like how toddlers feel the need to chew on everthing that’s new), or just extremely hungry. The only shark who really doesn’t care about what he eats is the tiger shark.
Also, there are a lot of sharks who don’t attack humans at all. Ever been shark feeding? Apparently it’s a very popular attraction in some countries.

You can not seriously be intelligent enough to write a research paper….I hate to be harsh but my word woman, what you just said was asinine…please dont make me agree with Micheal again! (sharks are at the top of the food chain, quite necessary in keeping the natural balance of things, just my opinion though)

i cant bieleve there doing this some people like dolphins im vianca i wanted to be a marine bioligist when i grow up but not any more since i found out whats happening in the most beautiful places in japan ;(

This is one the saddest act of barbarity I have ever seen.
Everybody involved in it the Japanese people and government should be shot not once but twice to make sure they are dead…I am ashamed to be a human being if this is what we do to animals.
Ban all japanese goods until they stop it

(From the Moderator: Advocacy for Animals does not endorse statements calling for retaliatory violence against humans who abuse animals. Any further comments of this nature, or comments suggesting that the recent disasters in Japan are “karmic payback,” or anything of that nature, will be deleted.–Ed.)

It will help if you form a movement around the globe to protect those wild life creatures that keep the balance of earth……..join the organizations who help to preserve our environment at any costs not those organization who are pretending to help but in reality…there the one to destroy its own policies and goals…….Please…..the nature is actually calling you, …….animals are calling for help….and we are so blind and deaf for it….we must take actions NOW…………

Anyone who condemns Japan about killing dolphins BUT accepts the killing of other animals is, in my opinion, a hypocrite. The usual arguements that dolphins can not be bred (has anyone ever tried to be able to say that?), are intelligent, kind, beautiful and protect humans from sharks are just excuses to hide what they really are: wild, unpredictable animals, who will NOT always protect a human from a shark (I’ll elaborate that later) and who have happened to even attack humans before, be it while in captivity or in the wild. No, dolphins are not as kind as people think they are, but they are simply like all the others: predators who will not even stop at attacking their own kind.
As for humans being saved by dolphins: there is often a reason for that. The most common reason is most probably the fact that the dolphins (who are rarely alone, but most often with families, which includes babies) will feel threatened by the sharks themselves and therefore attack them to protect their families… And while they’re at it, also save the human. Cases like these have happened, only the human will immediatly think the dolphin had saved him on purpose, while it wasn’t necessarily the case. Another thing is, that, while dolphins will have no problem attacking certain types of sharks (some are even harmless to humans), they will not even try attacking other types. Especially against the tiger shark, they are really no match, which they know, and therefore will not do it.

Now, I’m not saying that it is right to kill dolphins. But it is also not right to hate a whole country for what a few people are doing. Especially, since eating dolphin really isn’t that common in Japan. I, myself, have never seen it anywhere.

To those who say that dolphin meat is toxic: so is fish by the way. It also has that specific toxic substance, and the older the fish is, the more it contains. Besides, concerning the japanese who eat dolphin: if I had to compare the quantities they eat with the quantities of pork some people eat, then I’m sorry, but the people eating pork are unhealthier. In fact, every red meat is considered unhealthy and was proven as such. In small quantities it might not matter, but seeing the quantities people DO eat (beef, pork, sheep, lamb(!), calf(!), etc.) it is not healthy.

Now, I always encounter people who will justify eating beef or pork with the following argument: we breed them, don’t kill them in a cruel manner, they don’t have self-recognition, etc. To me, these arguments are not valid either, especially since humans weren’t meat-eaters like this to begin with. Then, saying that they are not killed in?a cruel manner is wrong. In fact, bred animals aren’t even happy their whole life. At least these dolphins were happy before being killed. Finally, pigs are very well self-aware. More so than a dog (actually pigs are smarter than dogs).

All this to say, the only ones who have a right to condemn dolphin killing are those who do not eat animals. By this, I of course mean vegetarians and vegans.
Indeed it is wrong to kill dolphins, but the same goes for any other animal, and as long as the west kills so many cows, pigs, lambs (see, babies), calfs (more babies), piglets (and there go more), the japanese government will not do anything about the dolphin killing.
As for those who fear that those dolphins might go extinct: don’t worry. The hunter nows the existing number best and it would be very counter-productive for them to let the dolphins go extinct, as the result would be the same as if it got banned: they would loose their job. They will therefor be very careful not to let it go extinct.

You may be from the west, but you seem to have a very odd perspective about eating animals. First, humans have evolved to eat meat, studies show we are omnivores by nature and therefore need some animal protein for optimal function. That does not mean we need to treat the animal brutally and cruelly! Second, humans can be really stupid sometimes, often hunting things to extinction for nothing but profit. If you think these types of hunters care about population health then you are not living in the real world. Once the dolphins are gone they will find something else to ruthlessly hunt for their personal profit. Its about greed, greedy people are generally not too rational. Third, your supposition that dolphins may save humans “accidentally” is pure rubbish. It implies that a dolphin is not aware of what its doing. A completely false implication since they are sentient. There are many people who breed, grow and humanely kill animals for meat and value the LIFE of the animal before it is “sacrificed” for us to eat. Humane treatment of all animals is the goal here, not your spouting off from an ivory tower about how people should be vegan.

Becca fester, I am quite shocked by the stupidity of your comment, arresting people for killing animals to eat???

They are food for ****sake. Believe me, they is so much more animal cruelty for the domesticated animals that we see in supermarkets and such.

Animals such as pigs are highly intelligent creatures parallel or superior to dogs in some areas of intellect yet they are caged in small paddocks all their life.

What irks me is that, the shear cultural insensitivity. We are not talking about cruel Japanese going around killing any damn thing they see in the sea, it is a type of food source that they eat, a cultural thing that the whole world is beating them about. The angle to approach this issue is all wrong. If animal cruelty is practiced, then discuss ways, forcibly if you have to in remedying this situation. Instead, I see a lot of dumb*** dolphin lovers like you going about how its cruel and ****. Imagine if some Hindus went about protesting about the cruelty of eating beef, the audacity of eating beef!!! Cause that is the issue, telling a country what you can eat and what you can’t.

And just to rub it in to pathetic dolphin lovers. Dolphins are one of the cruelest creatures in the world. They purposefully hunt in packs finding porpoises to kill as a ‘fun’ activity. They wastefully leave the dead bruised, bleeding body of sometimes tens of dead porpoises in the sea. Even if it was for lets say training purposes, the sheer cruelty of death of these creatures which in other animals would of been eaten for sustenance proofs how f***ed up these creatures are in the head. They roam in packs raping female dolphins forcibly as well, you don’t see any other animals do that type of ****. To collaborate in order to get forced sexual intercourse. Yes, these dolphins are quite similar to humans.

Here’s the deal….farm animals may be eaten, but they are farmed. In the wild, there is no replacement for a dolphin or whale. They can’t be reproduced like farm animals…wild vs farm. Think about this. This little hole in the wall Taiji should think about eating something else. It is the year 2011. Stop acting like a bunch of uncivilized cavemen. Go buy a chicken.

Think about what? No replacements, so? Please elaborate further. Shoving an opinion without at least some sort of explanation “Think about it” does not strengthen your argument and frankly strains the credibility of your opinion.

You may respect the dolphins, and others don’t. I don’t. Dolphins to me are nothing more than obese wolves that can swim. If we lose dolphins, we lose our amusements in the zoos and in nature, so what??

Hunting relieves Japan’s strain on their land . Hunting means that infrastructure can be allocated to other means. Japan’s lone stand on hunting of these overrated creatures means no competition for dolphin meat and means less importing from other countries, this makes meat all the better to be hunted.

Whether you like it or not. Call me politically incorrect, there isn’t enough space for all of us. You will see in the future more and more animals getting extinct, oftentimes so that humans mouths will be fed (those damn destitute poachers!!) We need more and more space, that means more destruction of habitat. This land will be used for ethanol farms, food farms, human settlements, power stations etc… This will require huge tracts of land when we finally run out of petroleum. This is survival of the fittest, we are a but a larger scale of destructive species such as fire ants and locusts (even in their own habitat). If you insist on somehow protecting every goddamn animal because they will never be replaced, I suggest you move to Mars cause it ain’t happening on earth.

Cry me a river, if your prefer contributing to a large corporal industry of trapping animals in confined areas or to a life of boredom til death than by all means shop away! Of course eating these creatures is more humane than hunting some dolphins. I of course, see more goodness in hunting dolphins that an life time of non-stimulating imprisonment of animals, hell at least they ‘lived’. Even the Khoisans of Africa after chasing down a gazelle, give respect to the animal by ending its struggle with a hunted weapon, the bow instead of the knife.

At least I’m being truthful about my opinions, and being realistic. You on the other hand call me uncivilised whilst brushing away the issue of animals cruelty in the poultry industry, way to go chap. If I were you, I would smarten up.

it doesn’t have to be that way.. i understand that moving forward, animals are going to die out. There’s going to be a lot more derrastic measures to keep humans fed and alive. but why can’t we find a way around this without having to slaughter animals. i am not a vegitarian, vegan or anything. i eat burgers, chicken, turkey.. all of that. i eat it to live, to have protein so i am healthy. you HAVE to eat meat to stay healthy. its a fact. BUT! why cant we find alternatives for staying healthy along the way? We dont have to become these barbaric beings just to have food on our plate. i know im only 16.. but why does it seem that i have more common sense than people much older than me?

I’m sorry but you are wrong: you do not have to eat meat to be healthy. Animal protein has its own problems. As the American Dietetic Association says, “It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the lifecycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.”

okay then thats even better. But you missed my point. why cant we find a better way to deal with this problem then the way we are going about it now? i mean i understand its not that easy, but its worth a shot.

Listen, I am japanese. I have been acused of A LOT. We know about this we partician. But honestly they have a culture they’re used to. I AM VERY UPSET ABOUT THIS. I cry about this every year it happens but then again, what is a reasonable answer to make them stop decades of tradition? Un humaine, barbaric, disgusting. They have had a culture for years and we can’t even say these dolphins are endangered yet. PLEASE DON’T GET ME WRONG I AM AGAINST THIS. But we need to find a VERY good reason to make them stop instead of talking about killing all of the japanese…(ie.me and my family)because not all of us are going “I LOVE TO KILL AND EAT DOLPHIN”

Just because it is “tradition” doesn’t mean it’s right. infact, it was brought up that this slaughter is not even really a tradition. I watched the cove, and im doing research for a project about this, hence why i am even discussing this. Having a traditoin is one thing. But to try to justify killing innocent creatures for meat that hardly anyone even eats, let alone that the mercury levels are through the roof- so high that it causes brain cancer for children is a whole different thing. it needs to be stopped. period.

When I watched “The Cove” I was so amazed that Japanese people whom I always admired are so different than I thought. Same for Danish people who keeps killing dolphins. I have no respect for them and no respect for their governments.

The killing of a sentient being. Sentient meaning this being is self aware and conscious of its own existence. Do you remember the part in The Cove when a dolphin was blowing a bubble/oxygen ring in the water and nosing it around? He was showing off! He was saying “Hey check me out, how cool is this, its entertaining hey?” He was communicating on a level that no other animal can communicate with human beings, not even apes. Dogs might learn a trick you teach them and do it for you to please you. Dogs can be loyal and apes can learn sign language. But the dolphin is something else. Its so arrogant to presume that all animals are the same. Human beings are animals so with that kind of thinking there’s no differentiation there either. Of course the unnecessary suffering of any animal is unacceptable but this senseless slaughter of dolphins for meat that is essentially toxic seems senseless. When whales and dolphins, depending on the species, are either endangered or close to it, the idea that the Japanese are hunting, not just in their own vicinity but around the world, paying poor developing countries to fish their stock is purely self serving, short sighted and aborrhent.These people are disgusting and ignorant.

Something that really stood out in my mind was the Japanese saying, “A nail that stands out must be banged down.” Individuality and beliefs that challenge the consensus will not be tolerated. In my understanding of Japanese culture it is extremely difficult and discouraged to go against the wants and expectations of the group. One beneficial thing about western culture is that individuality is encouraged. If the Japanese won’t speak out against this, then we have to. Its own world, they do not have the right to do this, its wrong, totally wrong.

It’s great to see lots of young people passionate about what is hapenning in Japan-In fact this comments section looks to be turning into a 13 year olds Facebook feed… Jokes aside dolphins are mammals not fish, and sweet country girl- fish are not smart. However dolphins are widely regarded as the next most intelligent species after humans; something which makes these events appear all the more gruesome. Japan’s ravenous appetite for seafood seems to know no bounds and I personally think this sort of thing should be outlawed; along with the disgraceful methods implemented in the production of shark fin soup- exposed in a documentary with Gordon Ramsey.

Before you people complain that killing dolphin is bad, what have you done that is good for the advocacy of animal rights? Most of you probably go to McDonald’s and eat Big Mac MADE of MEAT from cows and other animals. You should hate yourselves for letting ANY animal slaughtered. Complaining about dolphins does nothing and people think you are just a bunch of hippie hypocrites

hippie hypocrites really?! how is that helping these poor defenseless creatures? i think instead of correcting people and calling them hippies we should join together and help! POWER IN NUMBERS. In my thirteen years of life I don’t see the blood of cows and chickens turn water completely red….we are the next generation and we can fix this. I want my decendants to see these beautiful animals alive and well.

im am disgusted by this those people disgust me how could you stab innocent dolphins to death how could you look into there helpless eyes and do that. you all disgust me and need help they are beautiful creatures and you kill them get a real job …

Unless you are a total vegetarian any argument against killing any other life form for food ( vegetation excluded ) makes no sense to me. Are we to rate which animals we kill for food based on their intelligence? I love my beagle, dumb as she may be, and based on that i dont think I would eat the thing, yet some Asian cultures seem to value dog meat. I Have seen some very disturbing videos of dogs in trucks being hauled to a slaughter house and it sure reminds me of the chicken trucks I see on a regular schedule hauling chickens to their demise, yet many of us love our chicken mcnuggets. I do respect the views of true vegetarians even though I may not agree as I yet need a credible evolutianary explanation for those pesky incisors we all have. I think that those who whine about dolphins yet eat their hamburgers need to give their head a shake.

Yes, I’m vegan and I agree. I’d like to ask you, though, because I really don’t see it, why people get hung up on what our teeth are like. I studied physical anthropology/human evolution in college, and I can tell you it’s a matter of dispute what individual teeth are “for.” What is it about “incisors” (many people who make this claim say it’s the canine teeth–there’s a difference) that is supposed to be so ideal for meat-eating? In addition, do these teeth not get the job done properly if all you eat is plants? I used to be an omnivore, and I had no problem eating cooked meat, cooked and raw vegetables and fruits, cooked grains… everything. Now I’m a vegan and I have no problem eating only plants. Meat-eaters who are not pure carnivores eat plants and animals; are you saying that you’re not well-adapted for eating anything but meat because of your dentition?

I believe it’s an overly simple understanding of evolution to imagine that evolution is a process of putting into place the exact equipment every organism will need to survive, equipment that is “intended” to be used in a specific way. We’re all evolving, all the time; we’re not some perfect end-product “designed” to perform specific functions. The human body is versatile in its functions. We can live in all kinds of environments, and our brain functions are extremely complex even by mammalian standards. We can basically live however we want to live: in a tree, in a submarine, in the Arctic, at the Equator, subsisting on basically nothing but mare’s milk and meat, or on grains and beans. And finally, even if we grant that there is nothing imperfectly adapted, no extraneous or ambiguous parts in the way the human body is put together, and its dentition (well, one tooth at least–don’t forget molars, which grind grains and other plants) is evolutionarily perfect: are we machines that will break down if we don’t use these teeth for the role they were “designed” to do? Evolution is slow, and we are basically the same as we were during the late Pleistocene, yet our ways of life are far, far different; you could say that we’ve outstripped our design. In a sense, so what if our teeth are efficient at chewing meat? There’s so much else we can do besides that. Why not try?

wouldn’t this be the same as some other country telling us not to eat fish chicken pig cow because it is not what they eat…..we can’t do anything to stop their government..it’s their law..their rules…we can’t control any country…..but it is sad..watching these dolphins being killed…..at least they’re being eaten..and not killed for fun….

are you a vego? no? then what about all the pigs and other animals that also don’t know what is happening!! what about all the animlas that are used for animal testing and don’t know what happenning? That get shampoo rubbed in their eyes and go blind? the animals that are made to take a pill and then die a day later?? yes this is cruel but you must know it is not happening to only the dolphins

This is just terrible. I understand that people need to eat meat and stuff, but this is just too harsh. Just imagine if you and your own kind were slaughtered so that you could be someone else’s next meal. It’s really sad, especially since the government of Japan isn’t really doing anything about it. Now I know why some people are vegan or vegetarian.

Comments seem to have moved more towards whether or not humans should eat meat, and have drifted away from the point of the article, which is the horrific conditions in which these animals are killed. If any group, person or company is killing animals for food in a way that they believe needs to be hidden from public view something must be wrong. It’s no secret that people kill animals for food, and while most of us may prefer to not watch it we should not be so hypocritical that we can’t accept that turning living animals into edible food is a job for those of us with the stomach for it. Where the line gets crossed with all animals is how those individuals are treated and killed. Stabbing, drowning and bleeding out dolphins is atrocious, as it would be for any cow, chicken or pig, and many countries have standards for how food animals are treated (whether or not they are enforced is an entirely different subject).

Personally, I have to agree with not eating animals based on intelligence, but I also believe we shouldn’t eat animals based on how they’re treated and killed. My meat eating includes sustainable fish species (which I update myself on constantly) that are almost exclusively wild caught, indicating they at least had a chance at a natural lifespan before ending up on my plate, and the very occasional bird, which is always the result of someone else choosing what I eat. I’d be more open to eating meat if I could afford small farm, naturally raised meat, but I can’t so I don’t. Not to mention, I think it’s a fair argument to discuss eating highly intelligent animals in a different way than other moderately intelligent animals. Dolphins, gorillas and elephants have complex social groups and extraordinary levels of intelligence and emotion that almost parallels our own. Why not talk about these animals in a different way than we talk about pigs, rats and dogs?

I think that we should make a law NO DOLPHIN KILLING OR YOU WILL BE KILLED YOURSELF!!!!! because everyone is wondering why animals are being extinct and this is one way the dolphins will be extinct!!!!

I think these Japanese that slaughter the Dolphins should be punished in the same manner! It’s appalling to see the worlds animals treated with such disregard! I have no tolerance for this and I hope the world will bring wrath appon them!!!

Boycott Japanese restarants, tell all your friends what they are doing. Use face book and other social medias to get the word out. Send emails to the the government of Japan.
Get up on your soap box, speak your mind. I hate that this is happening.
The movie The Cove is a good way of showing the world what is happening.
Show this movie at work, school, chruch and any other group you can find.
This is a WAR, It is the dolphins and us against Taijii and anyone place else that kills dolphins and or whales. The dolphins will win in the end. The people of Taijii will all die of toxic mercy levels. God will save the dolphins.

I have no objection on killing dolphins and whale. I ate dogs, pigs, monkeys, fishes, almost anything other than cetaceans i couldnt find it anyway… it all began when i realize that fungi, bacteria, other microbes, plants, all are living being. After studying microbiology i fell in love with bacterias and find it hard that people exclude the other kingdom as free for all… so after that i stop being vegan and live my life normally…

Hi, I’m Japanese and I never ate dolphins or whales.
Idk why they kills dolphins. But I know that they have a reason to kill them.
Yes, dolphins are cute, smart, friendly.
But maybe they eat all the fish in Japan. Idk.
If your the person wondering why Japan eat dolphins, or kills dolphins, WHY DON’T YOU GO TO JAPAN AND ASK THE PEOPLE WHO KILLS DOLPHINS THAN!!

And for the people who says like”why Japanese people eat dolphins.?”
Okay! Why do you eat Chickens, cows, horses, and dogs? They’re animal too.

We – as a species – do not depend anymore on whale and dolphin flesh for our survival.
This goes equally for gorilla, chimpanzee and elephant flesh.

We should be ashamed for eating the most intelligent cousins of ours for it is gluttony and not survival anymore.

By the same token I’m uncomfortable with our huge meat consumption and I make a very big distinction between ‘flesh’ and ‘meat’; flesh is us and our cousins, meat is animals bred for purpose.
To regard intelligent beings as ‘meat’ is the philosophy of the serial killer.

If we want to survive the 21’st century then meat-consumption must become the rare occasion rather than the normal and ordinary and in a quantity that adds something to a meal rather than being the main part.

Eating intelligent beings, ruining the environment and climate will justly lead to our extinction and give way for another species to try again and do a better job this time.

We are at the precipice and need to change our ways or all of us will go down in a cataclysm of religious hate and false-god worship that will engulf us and the world and the only saving grace will be that mother earth will endure and throw up a new surprise and another species that will perhaps do a better job of existing in harmony with all life – for it is precious and we never realized HOW precious for all our moral arbiters raised us above everything else and that was plainly wrong and we will pay a heavy prize for this hubris.

Eat less meat.
Eat less.
Be grateful to the universe for giving life and offer thanks in humility and embrace the gift of life in yourself and other species.

PS:
The horrific killings of rhino and lions for ‘medicinal purposes’ by Asian nations and the collusion by profiteers of all races in Africa is another indictment of us and it has to stop!

I think Japan should stop doing this have thing it not good. dolphins got heart and mind too. It very bad to kill dolphins but Japan even give the meat of dolphins to children and those meat got thing is back for every one.

Hello, I was wondering if I could use your information for an Awareness Campaign I am doing for one of my college course. We (my team and I) are going to be talking about the dolphin slaughter and the mercury poisoning. I have found very useful information on your website and I was wondering the name of the person who wrote the article just in case I have to cite any of the information.

I have been doing a lot of research on the slaughter of dolphins in Japan. I think that it is horrible and I wish something could be done to stop it. I wish I could help! I read an article about how dolphins communicate and how each dolphin has a distinct sound that indicates its name and identity and that other members of their pod can immitate it if they want to communicate with that particular pod member. Cool! Dolphins are so much like us that why would people even want to eat them! SAVE THE DOLPHINS!

One day Japanese people will start eating humans .They are so advanced in modern technology but so laid back when it comes down to food. There is so much meat out there
Don,t eat dolphins
Substitutes: . Eat ants,rats,cocroaches,and all the disgusting stuff you call delicaties…..

(PhysOrg.com) — Scientists studying dolphin behavior have suggested they could be the most intelligent creatures on Earth after humans, saying the size of their brains in relation to body size is larger than that of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees, and their behaviors suggest complex intelligence. One scientist said they should therefore be treated as “non-human persons” and granted rights as individuals.

You people are a sorry excuse for humans i can even think where to start of your sins what is wrong with you people how would you like it if someone ate you just stop killing the Dolphine what did do to you just to deserve this huh?!?!?!?!?!?

I’m a high school student and by watching The Cove and reading this article about what the Japanese are doing to the dolphins, it makes me sick. The Japanese have no idea that the mercury contained in the dolphins are too high to be consumed in the first place. Meaning, that you’re being poisoned by consuming the dolphin meat. And then when people don’t buy it, you decide to sell it off as whale meat just so you can make money. I’m sorry to say, but this society of our is too damn greedy money wise. Dolphins and other animals do nothing wrong but the thing is, we have to find ways to eat in order to feed our huge population. Us, human beings have more say into the protection of an animal and it’s species than any other because we, ourselfs, think that we are surperior over all others. Need the less to say that, we need to stand up to what the Japanese are doing to the dolphins and themselfs and make a change!

I agree to the fullest with what you are saying, we need to stand up to these people and make a change! I’m sure there are some people out there really trying to help but they need more people to help. As for me if there is anybody reading this I’am more than willing to put in time and effort to help Animals of all types, but the only problem I have is finding people who want to help these animals and actually want others to cooperate with them to get it done!

Change.org is a vehicle for change where anyone can start a petition. The trick is to find out who to direct those efforts to, whether it be a government official, a trade union rep or some other person of influence. If there are enough signatures on an online petition and people who can follow up to make sure voices are heard, this can be an excellent way to create positive impact toward a goal. I support any effort to stop the Taiji slaughter, but until people all over the world get outraged and make it economically disastrous the slaughter will continue.

Exactly! We should ban together in someway (meet up) and hold a meeting about it. Showing how much we care and why this should be stopped. I mean, there are plenty of reasons why listed above and in the movie. Plus, we do have fotage and the cries of the dolphins that were in pain! We can do this!

You said you are a High school student, so ‘am I, and I think that if we get enough people all on the same idea that we have, we can really make a change. I say you get as many people involved at your school show them the videos and everything and I do the same and eventually we all hold a meeting, we would have a good chance at stopping this or at least raising a lot more awareness about this because in my opinion not that many people know about stuff like this going on.

The only thing that I see as an issue for this is that I dont have computer access that often so if we as in me and you are actually going through with this, we wouldnt have much communication which would make it hard to see how eachother are doing with getting people involved, although I do have an address (not my home address) but to this place I do community service work for and they allow me to have letters sent there, that would make it easier for me.

I hear what you’re saying Rejie and Sparrow2013… (I also, don’t have Internet access everyday) but I think we can involve our students at our schools and possibly share it through other things as well (Facebook, YouTube, ect) that way, for the people that might have never heard of what they’re doing to dolphins in Japan, we an inform them and possibly get them on our side to stop this crazed madness. Any other ideas would be helpful too, so don’t be afraid to share. And I don’t see why we can’t send letters to each other also (since we both have a difficult time of being able to communicate by the Internet) we could send out our progress and inform each other about how everything is going with showing others about this.

I hear what you’re saying Rejie and Sparrow2013… (I also, don’t have Internet access everyday) but I think we can involve our students at our schools and possibly share it through other things as well (Facebook, YouTube, ect) that way, for the people that might have never heard of what they’re doing to dolphins in Japan, we an inform them and possibly get them on our side to stop this crazed madness. Any other ideas would be helpful too, so don’t be afraid to share. And I don’t see why we can’t send letters to each other (considering that we both don’t have Internet access 24/7) plus, we could also use the letter to inform each other our progress as to getting others from our schools and other places to help join us.

Well I’ve tried to post the address a bunch of times but this website wont allow it, I guess it doesn’t matter I can still post on here how I’m doing with getting people involved at least once a week. Anyway’s though I have been trying to think of ways to help and a couple of people told me to try and protest it,do you think that would work? Also I have a group of people at my school creating,printing,hanging and passing out awareness flyers Hopefully that will get attention of some people.

hello,im strongly disagree with this killing dolphin in japan.they are a good and cute animals ,howcome they are ,murdered without any good reasons??our next generation does not have a chance to get to know what dolphins are ,if these phenomenon does not stop.by the way,im doing a research about this dolphin murdered.can you suggest me any website or page that shows the dolphin was killed dramatically,and also a page or website that shows many people disagree with this case.thank you,please reply as soon as possible.^_^

I think killing animals such as dolphins is horrible!!! Anyone who does it will be hated for ever by people who have a big heart. I 100% support people who will stop this madness.
Dolphins should be Protected as a crucial part of our natural ecosystem. It’s bad enough that they eat dog and horse, but now they are eating dolphins. seriously?!?! SAVE THE DOLPHINS, WHALES AND OTHER CUTE ANIMALS !!!!!!!!!!!

Dolphins are very intelligent. They communicate with other Dolphins hundreds of miles away. From ancient history to the present, it has been known that Dolphins cannot stand to see a man die at sea and they do everything they can to protect them from sharks and from drowning. The sharks being slaughtered will communicate with other dolphins out there sending pictures of their slaughter; of the men killing the dolphins. And dolphins will communicate with each other about this. Don’t be surprised if they learn and communicate with each other that man is not their friend. Elephants have now learned to avoid and shy away from man who they now know is their enemy. Dolphins will learn the same and communicate it to Dolphins across the globe. If you are attached by a shark at sea the dolphins may decide to stand by and do nothing.

As usual there are many fisheries that are not regulated or watched. Thank GREENPEACE for all they do! Without these Watchdogs there would be far more killing!! Many of these huge fishing vessels are out to make a dollar. Man is the worst enemy for all. An old friend said to me many times “Everything in moderation”. Sadly this is not what happens. Watch the documentary that interviews past trainers at SEAWORLD ! Seaworld is another money making PIG & disgraceful to all these beautiful creatures.

This is an abolishment and needs to be stopped right away. Its sickening how humans can be so tortuous to these animals who have every right to live on our planet. What do they do to you? Leave these innocent beautiful creatures alone and eat some chicken or vegetables or something that isn’t endangered. I am repulsed by the culture of the Japanese for doing this.